


You Only Love Me In The Dark

by stiless__halee



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Photography, Photoshoots, Pining, Pining Sam Wilson, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love, press
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-07 17:32:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16412834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stiless__halee/pseuds/stiless__halee
Summary: Sam thinks they’d look majestic. The Captain’s shield barreling forward while Sam rises above him with his wings unfurled. An image that Caravaggio himself would’ve been proud to paint.





	You Only Love Me In The Dark

Sam wonders if he would look good standing next to Captain America. Would his lopsided grin with its gap teeth and his brown skin look nice next to the blond hair and blue eyes that belonged to the Captain? Would it look nice if he was photographed with his smooth, brown skin pressed right up against the Captain’s own porcelain?

Sam thinks they’d look majestic. The Captain’s shield barreling forward while Sam rises above him with his wings unfurled. An image that Caravaggio himself would’ve been proud to paint.

Sometimes, during the slower moments of their hectic lives, Sam decides to sit a little too close so that his arm can brush against Steve’s. He looks at their skin, side by side, and tries to imagine what it looks like to everyone else.

The Captain stands far away during their moments in public. He stands front-and-center, hair pushed back, shoulders relaxed, and a practiced smile on his face. He commands attention without expending any energy, people’s eyes gravitating towards him as he moves through the space.

He and Nat always stand behind him, hands behind their backs, eyes locked on the Captain’s back. His reliable side kicks for when the action gets a little too hot. His background characters for the photo-ops.

Sam wonders what everyone at these press conferences would say if they knew about the private moments. He imagines the reporter’s upturned noses, turning to look at him with newfound appreciation when they discover that they sleep with their legs tangled together beneath a thick quilt.

Sam thinks about the closeness of their bodies in the night, the way his forehead rests in the space between Steve’s shoulder blades. He thinks about the distance that exists between them during the day, the measured space that Steve puts between them when they’re in front of the cameras.

He hates Bucky – or James as they call him now – when he returns. He slides into the space by the Captain’s side as if it was made for him. They stand side-by-side, and his sleek, new arm looks indestructible next to the vibranium shield.

The press eats them up. Pictures of the star-crossed lovers reunited after over half a century. Steve lets Bucky into his space as if he was always keeping the spot empty for him. He loops an arm around the other man’s shoulders during interviews. He lets their ankles hook together beneath the tables at different panels.

Sam sleeps alone, an arm thrown around the extra pillows he has in his too big bed.

It’s only natural that he and Nat turn to each other. They’ve both been cast aside by the men in their lives.

He feels angry and betrayed by Steve’s sudden abandonment. The man had appeared on his doorstep, dragging behind him SHIELD and missions and a life that Sam couldn’t walk away from.

His anger tastes bitter next to Nat’s quiet grief. James was the man she had fallen in love with before she even knew what love was. The man who quite literally made her into the woman she is today, molding her into the perfect assassin. Not that he remembers any of it.

The two of them stand closer together during the photoshoots and the press conferences, holding each other up while the photographers focus on the men they love.

**Author's Note:**

> Just something short and sweet I wrote when I should've been studying for my exams.
> 
>  
> 
> Find me on tumblr: Stiles-Hale


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